[postgis-users] Starting Points

[Cam Bevis]

I think I've come to the right place, but I just wanted to confirm. 

We're experienced programmers/db/SQL people, but this is our first GIS
related project.  

We have address lists.  These lists have lat/long in each record.

An outside party wants to hand us points (up to 10) that form an irregular
polygon.

What they would like back is all addresses in that polygon.  

I could of course perform the geometry against each record (slow), but this
is what post-gis seems to be designed to avoid (GiST indexes).

>From reading the list, it seems there are many doing the same kinds of
things, but much more complex.  

within() and contains() look like the ticket.

My questions are stupid ones like:

The coordinate systems used in the examples look completely different than
the lat/longs I have in my database.
What form are they in?
How do I convert to the right one?

These are obviously not material for a postgis FAQ, but something much more
basic.

I don't want my newbie questions answered, just a pointer to my next reading
material.


Thanks

Cam Bevis


Cam Bevis
Healthcare Dialog +Media
Cbevis  at ip2m.com
Phone: 713-623-4335 x201
Fax: 713-623-4337